Early in 2026, I saw a Face Book post from the Director of AZ Flattrack Racing. He was looking for volunteers to help with scoring. That's something that I'm very familiar with from working Motocross races and Enduros back in Minnesota. That was my initial contact with Jerry Gruber. He took over the series after the promoters left at the end of previous year. He didn't get a thorough turnover and did not have much experience on the race operations side of things. I was the only one that responded to the FB post but he did find a few others for the trackside positions. I committed to doing the scoring and series points for the season.

The first race was at Adobe Mountain Speedway (AMS). Going in, I didn't know what their process was or what would be available at the track. I knew that it was all-paper last year, unlike every other race that I had ever worked. Another big difference was in Minnesota, the club or promoter was responsible for everything. Here, the racing organization does sign-up, scoring, series points keeping, and year-end awards, as well as providing things on race day such as flags and starting lights. The track owner takes care of the infrastructure, admission, and track preparation. If it wasn't for that, there's no way we would have pulled it off with our skeleton crew. A few of the racers pitched in to speed up sign-up but it took quite a while to produce the Class Entry sheets, the Race Order, and the Results. They were a very friendly and patient group. They understand that getting to do what they love is a privilege and are very thankful that Jerry stepped up to keep the races going. The next race was scheduled for the same track a few weeks later, but a record-setting, 104-degree forecast high was ample reason for a cancellation, much to my relief.

The next round was at Tucson Kart Speedway, my first out of town race. Arizona CMA Fast Lane Area Rep, Jim McCabe, told me that Victor Durand, the current VP of Cruising Christians (Tucson) was interested in the races being held there. I learned from Victor that they had been to the track before, setting up a table and doing what CMA does. There was a chapter meeting the morning of the race and I hit a big delay on I-10 on the way to the track. By the time I got there, Jim and Judy McCabe were already starting to get the CMA pop-up and table set-up. My New Life compatriots Billy and Bonnie Schirato arrived shortly after that. Together they got things set up and jumped in to help with sign-up. Victor Durand and Kenny and Avery Zinck were also there. Victor showed up on his motorcycle so at least one of us rode.

From the moment I arrived, I was tied up getting race entries into the computer and struggling with printer problems. While I was busy with that, sign-up went well, water was handed out, racers were learning about CMA, and bikes were being blessed. At the Rider's Meeting, Jerry thanked the members from CMA for helping out and Victor said a prayer which seemed genuinely appreciated. It was truly a blessing seeing my CMA brothers and sisters in action and how quickly they adapted to a new type of event for many of them, learning terms such as Hot Laps and Starting Grid.

The Flat Track race in early May back at Adobe Mountain went well. Jerry and I continued to get the race day process refined. Because of another major CMA event going on that day, there wasn't a CMA presence in the pits for this race, but I was told that we were definitely welcome back when racing resumed in the Fall.